Day 16 - Kakunodate to Akita

Leaving the inland plain, we head back towards the coast today to set us up for our final leg along the Japan Sea tomorrow.

Route

Swinging South and following the Omoni River into Akita would open up a lot more options to get off the main roads and onto secondary roads on the river plain, but would also add considerable distance.  The more direct, hilly route is already more than 62kms, even without the unplanned detour into downtown Akita, so that was our choice.

Leaving Kakunodate on Route 46 lulls you into a false sense of security with good pedestrian/cycle way along the early part of the route.  Reality quickly sets in and it's just the two quite busy lanes and not even much in the way of extra width for most of the route.  The addition of a fleet of Self Defence Force folks convoying along did not help matters.  With very limited options to get off the main road until you intersect with Route 13, it doesn't make for a very enjoyable ride.

The route follows a series of valleys, with 3 or 4 short, relatively gentle climbs to hop over into the next valley.  Without the traffic, it would have been a pleasant ride.

Stay and Eat

By the time we exited the mountain valleys, we were on the outskirts of Akita, so rather than look for a lunch option in the 'burbs, we opted for an impromptu detour into the downtown area to see what the options were for sightseeing and food.  The one sight we'd picked out turned out to be a fizzer, and then there's bike parking in big cites thing and the hotel only being a few kilometres out of town.  So in the end, we only had a mochi at the roadside station in the hills for the day.  

We are at Satomi Onsen for the night. It's a typical big onsen hotel. Nothing wrong with it, but a bit faceless after a series of very welcoming, small ryokan and minshuku stays.  The ryokan has a long history with the most recent construction being the third iteration.  Each building has extended the previous, so if like us, you are staying in the oldest section, it's a trek from your room to reception, the baths, vending machines and shops.  The staff were welcoming and helped us find somewhere to park the bikes out of the way.  

  See and Do

Not much as far as we can see.  Our assessment may have been coloured by arriving in town underfed and lacking the motivation to sort out the bike parking and have a proper wander around.